A Reader’s Guide to Celebrity Parent Tell-All Books

Apparently, an increasingly coherent and aware Britney Spears is upset about her mother Lynne’s forthcoming tell-all, Through the Storm. The book reveals, among other things, that the pop star lost her virginity at 14 and began drinking in middle school, along with embarrassing details about Britney’s many, many crack-ups. No longer content to act as a passive, panty-less A.T.M. for everyone in her circle, Spears is "furious" with her mother, especially since she thinks Lynne "caused so many of her problems and issues" to begin with. We’re inclined to believe her–history tells us that just about everything can be blamed on overbearing, childhood-denying, money-hungry stage parents. But the disapproving (also, prying/money-spending/attention-lavishing) public hasn’t ever been able to stop them from trying to tell their side of the story.

Kay McConaughey, mother to Matthew, wrote a book called I Amaze Myself. The excerpts on her Web site seem to frame it as some kind of self-help tome. Sample:

It’s not always about you. Get yourself out of the way! Forget yourself when you leave the house. If you have to ask somebody, “How do I look in this? Do I look OK? Should I wear this?,” if it’s questionable and you are depending on someone else to be your mirror, then don’t wear it. Don’t be your own question mark. When they tell you how good you look, then they can be your exclamation point!!!

Or three! Anyway, unofficial leaks quickly revealed that it also includes the revealation that Papa McConaughey died during sex, along with details about his, uh, anatomy.

Janis Winehouse, mother to Amy, frequently speaks to the press, and gave a long interview to the Daily Mail in which gave details about her troubled daughter’s childhood, drug use, self-mutilation, and relationships:

I’ve had 23 years of Amy having close escapes. As a toddler in her pram she once nearly choked on Cellophane. Another time she went missing in the park. She’s tough, like me. I see that as my gift to her.

John Voight, father to Angelina Jolie, uses the press as a means of attention-getting/communication with his daughter after she famously cut him off for prematurely announcing the adoption of her son Maddox.

Dina Lohan, mother to Lindsay, long turned a blind eye to her daughter’s behavior in exchange for B.F.F. status with her offspring, but now has an E! show called “Living Lohan," which chronicles her attempts to turn Lohan calfs Ali and Cody into cash cows.

Alec Baldwin, father to Ireland, detailed his custody battle with ex-wife Kim Basinger over their daughter, calling the work A Promise to Ourselves. This is the same daughter whom he abused over the phone two years ago.

Connie Meester, mother to Leighton, is currently shopping a memoir detailing her "life journey from drug ring co-conspirator to suburban real estate agent to author." Her daughter reportedly approves of the deal.

Debbie Nelson, mother to Eminem, wrote My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem, a memoir of her fraught relationship with her son, who famously sang about raping and killing her.

Candy Spelling, mother to Tori, has a tell-all in the works, which will presumably include her side of her on-again-off-again feud with daughter, who has already released a memoir and has another in the pipes.

Susan Ryan Jordan, mother to Meg Ryan, wrote "The Immune Spirit," ostensibly a memoir about her battle with cancer, though it mostly seemed to be about her battle with an estranged daughter.

Kit Culkin, father to the Culkin children, wrote I Don’t Think So about his career as one of the worst stage parents in history, and Lost Boy, a collection of impressions of Michael Jackson, the bulk of which is based on the time his son Macaulay spent with him. Both are available as downloads from his Web site!